The Idolator Hype Index (Week Of 1.8.12)

It’s time to get in the habit of waking up on Friday morning, rubbing your bleary eyes and checking out our weekly Pop & Fizz chart, where we rank the top artists and headlines in pop music. This is the second week for the chart, so here’s a reminder on how it works: we rank each artist or major news story according to their size (that’s Rank) and then we weigh how they’re faring overall in the pop zeitgeist (that’s Hype). That’s why, for example, Justin Bieber — whose photos in V caused a retaliation by fans — ranks above relatively unknown (in the States) UK boy band The Wanted, who had an enviable intro to American audiences via Ellen DeGeneres.